Nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition in

Sherbourne Animal Hospital

Carrying a few extra pounds can mean big problems for your pet including an increased risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and painful joints. Our staff will assess your pet’s weight and fitness so that together, a realistic weight loss programme can be developed to help your pet to reach an achievable target weight.

Did you know that…

It is a popular misconception that what we think of as small treats are not many calories to our pets. This is not true. For a 10kg dog 1 biscuit is the equivalent of a human eating 1 burger or 1 chocolate bar! For an average 5kg cat, 25g of cheese is the same calories to a human eating 3 and a half burgers or 3 and a half chocolate bars! We love to show our pets affection and one of the ways we do this is with food, so trying to cut out the treats can be hard. However it doesn’t mean you love your pet any less, in fact it means you care enough about their health to not give them the extra treats or food they don’t need. Obesity is linked with diabetes and arthritis but it can also limit our pets’ ability to exercise. Animals love attention, cuddles, grooming and praise – try giving these instead of food. Try giving them part of their daily food requirement as treats instead of food. Then they feel like they are still having treats.

You should be able to easily feel their ribs and when looking from behind, their waist line should be clearly visible. If you are not sure, why not bring in your pet for a free weight check with one of our qualified veterinary technician?

If you would like help with your pet’s weight, or a free weight in to check your pets weight, call us to book or book an appointment.